Microemulsion Synthesis of Tin Oxide-Graphite Nanocomposites as Negative Electrode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Nanostructured and -graphite composites were prepared by microemulsion synthesis using Tergitol 15-S-5 as the surfactant. The size of the nanoparticles was typically between 15 and 20 nm. The graphite- composite containing 9.8 wt % showed a high reversible storage capacity of 384 mAh/g which decreased by only 4% in 30 cycles. The substantial cyclability improvement relative to unsupported is believed to be due to the uniform dispersion of the nanoparticles on the graphite surface, which reduces particle aggregation during insertion and extraction reactions.